Monday, December 6, 2010

Pottery Barn Inspired: Advent Calender

I love the Christmas season, and I want to create a fun, loving, and giving season for my children. One of my favorite memories as a child was our advent calender. I loved waking up each December morning, running into the kitchen and putting that day's marker on the calender. Since David's & my first Christmas married (and Dmitri on the way), I have been looking for the perfect advent calender for my own family. But each year, none have been perfect.

Until this year, when I fell in love with this advent calender from Pottery Barn:

But the $299 price tag? Outrageous!!! So, I decided to make my own. And for less than $20 I have my own bucket and branch advent calender...

I'm in love. And Dmitri thinks it's fun too.

Here is a short tutorial:

Supplies

-25 buckets (mine are from Dollar Tree in the wedding section. I got 27 for $9)

-Little trinkets to fill the buckets (a lot of mine are cut up Christmas tree picks or mini ornaments)

-Floral foam or something else to fill buckets

1. I started with these little white buckets. I removed the handles from them.

2. I put sticker numbers on them from a scrapbook pack. I re-used a few, but it works best when you only use the sticker once. Make sure they are on very securely.

3. These got a good spray from some oil rubbed bronze spray paint. (I flipped them upside down and sprayed too!)

4. Peel the numbers away...A few of mine had a little residue. I used a little scraper tool to clean off some of the paint that seeped in. Also, you can use a Mr. Clean magic eraser very carefully (it will remove all of the paint if not careful!)

Here are my supplies pre-assembly.

5. Tie it all together. Measure out the jute pieces for the buckets so that they are all the same length. I put the buckets on the "branch" by putting it through a loop around the branch, if that makes sense.

6. It took a little bit of time to put all of the buckets on the sticks. And then to tie all of the sticks together. It's nice if you have a helper. Some of it takes a little trial and error...

7. Fill with goodies!

Happy Adventing!

Let me know if you have any questions! This was an easy project, but a little time consuming!

I fill the buckets with the trinkets that I've pictured to mark each day as a countdown until Christmas.

So, for instance, buckets 1-6 are currently filled with a little item, and # 7 will be filled tomorrow!

It just serves as a visual representation of counting down till Christmas. Kids love it - it helps them realize how many days are left until Christmas and keep track of the time. Plus its good to learn counting. And ok, I admit it, it's really just because I am so impatient for Christmas to get here....haha!

YOU ARE BRILLIANT!!! I LOVE a PB inspiration or idea...but I LOVE LOVE LOVE a PB Knockoff/Tutorial. Ok...we MUST be friends. #1 -- LOVE your style & #2 -- so when I steal your idea....you won't get TOO mad. :)

First off, this is just awesome. I couldn't tell the scale at first and thought man that person is dedicated to advent (I thought it was a whole wall).

To add to my confusion these are some of the first link parties I have done and I just now figured out PB stand for Pottery Barn and not Peanut Butter. Yeah, I feel like my Great-Grandmother trying to reset her microwave clock.

Anyway, now that I have read the whole tutorial, I just had to comment on how much I love the tiny buckets! What a wonderful remake of a much to pricey original.

I seriously love this, but forgive me i'm confused, how is this fun for the little ones? do they keep the prize in it? do they move a figurine everyday? Either way i'm making one for me, because it will be fun for me to look at it everyday and sigh over how pretty it is

I'm so glad that Bower Power posted a link to your tutorial! I also fell in love with this advent calendar and was dreaming up ways to DIY it but didn't have time to follow through. I'm bookmarking this page so I can make it for my son for next Christmas!

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Some calendars are strictly religious, whereas others are secular in content. Despite the name, most commercially available Advent calendars begin on December 1, regardless of when Advent begins, which can be as early as November 27 and as late as December 3.Today, most Advent calendars are made for children.[citation needed] Many take the form of a large rectangular card with "windows" of which there are often 24; one for each day of December leading up to Christmas Day. One is opened every day during Advent. In many of these calendars, each window opens to reveal an image, a poem, or a portion of a story such as the story of the Nativity of Jesus. More elaborate Advent calendars have a small gift concealed in each window, such as a toy or a chocolate item.--From Wiki--hope this helps!

I made my own after seeing this in Pottery Barn, too! Mine uses little baskets I got on sale at Micheal's, and we interspersed some "Christmas traditions" with the giving/serving activities, but I'm sure when we have our own kids we'll change them all into more child-appropriate activities! I love your blog, and if you ever have a free moment in between being a mommy and graduating (congrats!), I'd love to grab a cup of coffee with you sometime! Hope the van is treating y'all well-- we are in love with the Escape :)

This project rocks! I just wanted to let you know that I featured it this week on "You Sew Rock Me Fridays" on my blog SewRockin.com. Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://wp.me/p1VAkT-ie